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Thursday, 22 September 2011

Ones to Watch MEN - KYE Spring Summer 2012

Korean designer, Kathleen Kye, drew VFS’s
‘Ones to Watch’ menswear, to a close. The Central Saint Martins graduate showed
an elaborate and bold collection, which demonstrated her ability to merge a fun
loving appreciation for menswear with substance and quality.

Speaking to the designer backstage after
the show, she explained that in creating this SS12 collection she drew from her
experiences of living in a separated country and that she wanted to reflect
these serious politically issues through her fun and youthful interpretation.
She wanted to produce her version while still drawing from the deep meaning of
the situation.

As the show got underway the war torn
references became apparent with gun motifs embellishing tunics, t-shirt
pockets, tank tops, and trousers. One particular model emerged shirtless with a
velvet gun shaped bag across his torso and the bag like many other elements in
the collection was encrusted with hundreds of gold crystals. The masculinity of
war was in this case literally glamourised. The look was very ‘pop’ and military
shapes such as cargo pants and combat utility vests were updated by the strong
color palette of black, white and gold. “I didn’t want to use traditional
military colours like khaki and green. I wanted that pop look.” Kye later
explained.

Gold, glitter and sparkle could not be
missed from start to finish as alongside its use on clothes, all models stepped
out in either gold army boots or Jesus creepers. Accessories were a big feature
in this show from bandanas to asymmetrically tied scarves and baseball caps.
There was nothing simple or minimal here, instead everything was exaggerated
and on display. Zippers were exposed, pockets were everywhere and clasps
littered jackets and tops.

After showing us how it’s done in menswear,
Kye is now hoping to also branch into womenswear next season. For the time
being she is focusing on her t-shirt line that she has in Korea.